Abstract Automatic differentiation (AD) is a methodology for developing reliable sensitivity-enhanced versions of arbitrary computer programs with little human effort. As such, it can vastly accelerate the use of advanced simulation codes in a multidisciplinary design optimization context, as the time for generating and verifying derivative codes is greatly reduced. In this paper, we report on the application of the recently developed ADIC automatic differentiation tool for ANSI C programs on the CSCMDO multiblock three-dimensional volume grid generator. The ADIC-generated code can easily be interfaced with FORTRAN derivative codes generated with the ADIFOR AD tool for FORTRAN 77 programs, thus providing efficient sensitivity enhancement techniques for multilanguage, multidiscipline problems.
Bischof et al. (Sun,) studied this question.